The XX Factor : Michael Mukasey

AIDS at Guantanamo?

Emily Bazelon — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:04:00 GMT

On the legal front this week, we have Michael Mukasey's can't-pin-me-down testimony of yesterday, as Dahlia reported . And also this dismaying report , via his lawyer and the LA Weekly 's blog, that a Guantanamo prisoner has contracted AIDS in the camp....(read more)

More on Torture Tapes

Dahlia Lithwick — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:18:00 GMT

I am not sure Mukasey had any choice, Emily . The op-ed in today’s New York Times by Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, the co-chairmen of the Sept. 11 commission, was a clarion call for just such an investigation. Here you have the bipartisan pronouncement that,...(read more)

Good for Mukasey

Emily Bazelon — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:02:00 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, I criticized Attorney General Michael Mukasey for stonewalling Congress over its investigation of the destroyed CIA tapes, and for apparent flaws in the structure of the internal Justice Department probe. I'm feeling better about...(read more)

Dear Chuck...

Melinda Henneberger — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:50:00 GMT

How inopportune for the Democrats that the face of their fund-raising efforts in the Senate is New York's Chuck Schumer, of Michael Mukasey fame . "Slightly better on water-boarding,'' is not much of a rallying cry, and liberal activists are urging those...(read more)

Clinton Opposes Mukasey Too

Emily Bazelon — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:29:00 GMT

Hillary jumps the same way as Obama: "I am deeply troubled by Judge Mukasey’s continued unwillingness to clearly state his views on torture and unchecked Executive power. The Attorney General is the chief defender of the rule of law in our country. After...(read more)

Obama Opposes Mukasey

Emily Bazelon — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:27:00 GMT

In a press release today, Obama said of Mukasey: “While his legal credentials are strong, his views on two critical and related matters are, in my view, disqualifying. We don't need another attorney general who believes that the President enjoys an unwritten...(read more)

More on waterboarding!

Dahlia Lithwick — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:03:00 GMT

After Phil and I wracked our brains to understand why Michael Mukasey wouldn’t just admit that waterboarding is torture, and in light of Rudy Giuliani’s weaselly parsing of the same question , it’s heartening to read this morning – via the AP -- that...(read more)

Mukasey and Sex Discrimination

Emily Bazelon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:03:00 GMT

At today's confirmaton hearing for Michael Mukasey, Bush's pick for attorney general, Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked questions about a disturbing ruling Mukasey made as a federal judge in the Southern District of New York. Here are the facts (I just looked...(read more)